NIH signals end to key research on climate change and health
The Trump administration is moving to end National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for research on how climate change harms human health, a shift scientists warn could endanger lives.
Maggie Astor reports for The New York Times.
In short:
- The NIH, under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now deprioritizes research on climate change, instructing scientists to remove related topics from grant proposals.
- Scientists warn this decision will gut studies on how disasters like wildfires and heat waves impact heart health, pregnancy outcomes, and immune function.
- Without federal support, institutions around the country, like the University of Cincinnati’s Center on Climate Change and Health, say most of their research will halt, leaving the U.S. unprepared for mounting health threats.
Key quote:
“Our work isn’t driven by politics or ideology. It’s driven by the idea that we can do things now to protect the future health of our children and make our communities places that will be more able to withstand the impacts of extreme events.”
— Dr. Shohreh Farzan, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine
Why this matters:
Climate change is being scrubbed from federal grant proposals like it’s a dirty word. Researchers have been tracking how heatwaves worsen heart disease, how wildfire smoke messes with our lungs and immune systems, and how pregnant people suffer when the planet’s on fire. When the science dries up, so do the warnings — leaving parents, doctors, and entire communities flying blind through disasters, and lacking important data to pursue effective climate resilience when it comes to health.
Read more:
- Environmental groups sue Trump administration over shutdown of climate and pollution data tools
- Trump administration halts EPA science board meeting as agency faces major research cuts
- Trump administration halts Princeton climate research funding, citing rise in youth anxiety
- Trump administration cancels funding crucial to landmark federal climate report
